Lyme disease-bearing tick finding way here

Monday

Sep 10, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 10, 2012 at 11:39 AM

Blacklegged ticks, a Lyme disease carrier rarely encountered in Ohio before 2010, increasingly are making themselves at home in the Buckeye state. Migrating from the east, populations of the tick now are thought to be established in at least 26 counties, including Licking, and they showed up for the first time this year in Fairfield County.

Randy Ludlow, The Columbus Dispatch

Blacklegged ticks, a Lyme disease carrier rarely encountered in Ohio before 2010, increasingly are making themselves at home in the Buckeye state.

Migrating from the east, populations of the tick now are thought to be established in at least 26 counties, including Licking, and they showed up for the first time this year in Fairfield County.

Ohio has recorded 36 cases of Lyme disease so far this year, including three among Franklin County residents, and more might crop up this fall as hunters stomp through the woods in search of turkey and deer.

There were 53 Lyme disease cases in the state last year. This year’s total might not exceed that number, but those who keep an eye on ticks think their invasion of Ohio could produce higher numbers of cases in coming years.

The nymphs that pose the most danger of infecting Ohioans are the size of the period at the end of this sentence.

To infect a human with Lyme disease, the blacklegged tick, also known as the deer tick, needs to bite its host and then hang on for 36 to 48 hours to transmit the disease-causing bacteria.

The ticks succeed in eluding notice because they are small and stealthy, said Glen Needham, an associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University. Even the adults that will become active this fall are only one-third the size of the much-more-common American dog tick and can be hard to detect, Needham said.

Lyme disease generally is characterized by a bull’s-eye-type rash that appears seven to 14 days after someone is bitten. Symptoms can include muscle aches, fatigue, fever, swollen glands, headaches and joint pain.

If left untreated with antibiotics, the bacteria can cause arthritic-type symptoms and cognitive impairment that can be chronic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“They show no signs of slowing down. We feel pretty confident the increase in their numbers and spread is real,” said Richard Gary, state entomologist with the Ohio Department of Health. “Our concern is that this ultimately may lead to an increase in Lyme disease cases.”

The rarer Rocky Mountain spotted fever is carried by dog ticks, and only 14 cases have been reported in Ohio this year, including two in Franklin County. If left untreated, the bacteria can be fatal. Ohio reported 21 cases last year.

Ohio State’s Needham urges hunters and others who will be in the woods this fall to take precautions such as using insect repellants and tucking their pants into their boots.

The ticks continue to advance toward Franklin County and soon could call it home as well, he said.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow

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